Chapter 4: Eating From The Palm Of Her Hand

Charlotte picked up the card from the floor and tossed it into the trash can before exiting Floyd's office. Who the hell did that man think he was? Well, he was the owner of this building and impossibly rich, but that gave him no right to think he could treat people like that. She wanted to go after him and tell him off, but she knew she couldn't do that. First, she'd have to find a way to get out of the agreement Floyd got her into through other means. 

She went to her office and finally retrieved the faxed documents from the Sterling case, but she didn't know what to do with them now that she was officially off the case. Well, if her new "boss" told her she had the day off, so be it. She picked up her things and left.

Janet eyed her suspiciously as she approached the lobby.

"Taking the day off?" she said from behind her desk, lowering her glasses and scowling at her. 

"As a matter of fact, I am," Charlotte said, giving her a sly smile. Normally, if she was going out to work on a case, she'd be carrying files. Now she only had her purse with her. 

"I thought only partners got those," Janet said, pretending to look at some papers. "Given you're not a partner, I'll have to write that down." 

"By all means, write it down." Charlotte blew her a kiss and left the office and gave Janet a wave from the elevator as the doors closed in front of her. 

In the parking lot, she went the long way round to check the reserved parking spaces. There it was: Logan Hamilton, next to the building's other entrance. Parked in the space was a Lamborghini. He probably got his own elevator to go up to the top-most floors where his office was. 

When she got to her car, Charlotte didn't really know where to go. The weight of everything that had happened seemed to finally settle on her, and she felt really tired. It was barely eleven; too early for lunch and too late to have a proper breakfast. She hadn't been able to enjoy hers earlier in the day from the anxiety of seeing Edward and the prospect of her promotion. 

Normally, she'd go over to visit her mother and spend some time in the house she loved so much, but she was afraid Mary would be there. She couldn't deal with her yet. So she turned the engine on and drove around until she remembered that Floyd had said he'd go to the country club. He usually met important clients there, but Charlotte knew he liked to have long lunches and play tennis in the middle of the workday. Maybe she'd be able to talk to him and convince him to let her keep her cases and not work with the obnoxious Mr. Hamilton. 

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Chateau Ella was Atlanta's most prestigious country club, and Charlotte only remained a member because she was still single and she was included in her mother's legacy membership. She wasn't a fan of the place: everyone who was anyone in Atlanta went there to play tennis, golf, or gossip in the tea room. But she knew what a privilege it was to be able to use its facilities for free, so she did play tennis every once in a while. 

It took her a little over thirty minutes to get there, and thankfully, it seemed to be relatively empty. The Chateau was like a big castle surrounded by lush gardens and a vineyard, one of the few on the East Coast. At the reception, she asked for Floyd, saying she had to meet him there, and the receptionist told her that he was last seen in the Pergola near the boathouse. So off she went. 

One golf cart ride later, Charlotte walked into the Pergola to find Floyd in the midst of what seemed like a midday party. He sat with a group of five men under the shade of the vines, and they were all laughing and drinking wine. The second she saw them, she regretted coming. 

Floyd's family was a long-time friend of her own family; the law firm had once represented her father's importing business. But Floyd was still her boss, and her coming here to find him was not the most appropriate thing to do. Just when she was about to turn around and leave, one of the men caught sight of her. Six other heads followed his gaze, and everyone went silent. 

"Charlotte! Is everything OK?" Floyd said, setting down his wine glass and walking up to her. The men behind him started whispering to each other. None of them stopped looking at Charlotte.

She was used to it by now, but she still appreciated it when the men weren't so obvious about it. 

"Floyd, yes. I'm so sorry. I... Log- I mean, Mr. Hamilton told me to take the day off, and I wanted to talk to you about... something. I didn't mean to intrude."

"You could never intrude, darling. Come, meet the board members of Galveston Inc. Then we can go talk," he said, escorting her towards the group of men. 

"Gentlemen, this is Charlotte Astor. One of the firm's best lawyers," he said, introducing her. 

All of them stood up quickly, and one by one, they greeted her. 

"We're happy to be represented by such a fine... professional," said one of the oldest men from the group. 

A few of them chuckled at his remark, but the others just smiled at her. 

"Well, join us! We were just discussing business matters," another said. 

"I'm sorry, gentlemen, I forgot I had a meeting with her. We'll have to continue this another day," Floyd said, raising the wine glass he had been drinking from. 

"In that case, Mr. Whitaker, it has been our pleasure," said another man, toasting with his wine cup too. 

"Enjoy your meeting with the lovely Miss Astor, and be sure to invite us to the wedding!" another said, making everyone laugh.

Charlotte didn't understand the joke at first, so she politely smiled and followed Floyd to the other side of the Pergola. 

"What wedding did they mean? Do they know Edward?" Charlotte said once the two had sat down. 

"No, they meant my wedding. To you. They were joking, of course. Some people have trouble realizing that one can be a perfectly respectable professional and still be beautiful," Floyd said, smiling at Charlotte.

"Oh," she said. 

Floyd was almost forty and unmarried, much to his parent's chagrin. According to gossip, it was because he was too attached to his mother. Charlotte knew that wasn't the case because she'd heard his mother complain about his reluctance to settle down more than once when she and Charlotte's mother got together for tea or a game of cards. No one would ever imagine he and Charlotte were a thing, but these men weren't from town, so she supposed it made sense they'd think something could be going on between the two.

The second this thought crossed Charlotte's mind, she got an idea. 

"So, dear Charlotte. What can I help you with?" Floyd said, calling the waiter over and asking him to bring the menu. "We might as well have lunch, shall we?"

"Yes, that'd be lovely," Charlotte said.

They ordered food, and Floyd got a call from the office. He took it inside in the phone by the bar and then came back outside. It was as hot as it got during summer, but Charlotte was a summer creature anyway, so it didn't bother her. Her palms were starting to get sweaty, but the heat had nothing to do with it. 

If she went along with his crazy plan of hers... 

"Well, what is it? Are you sure everything is OK?" he said once he returned. 

"I wanted to thank you for the opportunity to work with Hamilton Industries," she said, giving Floyd her best smile. "I must admit I was under the impression you'd be making me partner, though." 

"Charlotte, dearest. You have to understand..."

"No, no, it's OK. I think it's for the best," she interrupted. "I was wondering... Well, you're still technically my boss, but since I'm working for Logan Hamilton, the line is a bit blurred, isn't it? And well, I was asked by Jake, Stephen, Gabriel, and John to go to the Art Museum Gala, but I didn't want to let any of them down. Would you like to come with me? As friends, of course. See, I think they'd take my rejection better if I told them I was coming with you..." 

And there it was. If Edward thought she'd be hanging around waiting for him to come around, he was mistaken. She'd show him what he was missing out on, and she'd do it by dating their boss. 

"Of course!" Floyd said, looking surprised. "You poor thing. I can't even imagine what it is like to be a woman in a men's world. I'd love to, and I feel honored you want me to go with you." 

When the waiter brought their orders, Charlotte made a point to accidentally knock over her wine glass over Floyd's sleeve and make a fuss over it. And when he made a joke, she laughed extra hard, as if he had just told her the funniest thing in the world. 

By the time they were finished with lunch, he was eating from the palm of her hand.